Installing the GENEActiv software

Download and save the ‘GENEActiv Software Installer V.3.2 (zip)’ and ‘GENEActiv Drivers (.zip)’ files from the Software section on our Downloads & Software page and follow the pop up instructions (you will need administrator rights to install the GENEActiv software for the first time).

Connect 1 unit into the charging cradle (green flash)

Follow the instructions set out on page 5 & 6 of the instruction manual(instructions vary depending on the version of Windows you are running – to check this click the ‘Start’ menu – ‘Control Panel – ‘System Properties’).

IMPORTANT: It is vital to check that the USB Win drivers have successfully been installed onto the PC. To ensure this:

Click ‘Select all’ devices to configure the GENEActiv, based on the serial numbers on front of the units

Click ‘Erase & Configure’. Pop-up windows will advise you of any problems (such as mandatory information missing, low battery charge), and warn that configuring will erase any existing data. The configuration will take around 10 seconds and a pop-up will confirm that it has been completed successfully

The GENEActiv device can now be disconnected and will either start recording depending on which option was chosen in step 3

On Button press – Firmly press the hidden button under the serial number giving a long green flash to indicate that recording has started.

Allow Stop & Restart – pressing the button again will stop recording and the red light will give a long flash. We do not recommend this option for field deployment, just ‘on button press’

Immediate – recording started immediately (button and lights are disabled in this mode)

At Future time – will start recording at the time selected (button and lights are disabled in this mode)

IMPORTANT: If the device is reconnected to the charge cradle, once it has started recording, it will stop recording and require reconfiguring.

Data converter and analysis

Click ‘Data Converter’ from the left hand menu. This creates .csv files, which can be used by Excel, from .bin files

Input the .bin file you have saved at the data extraction stage

Select output ‘browse’ to choose where to save the new .csv file

Select the epoch period you would like to convert the raw data into and choose a location to save this new epoch compressed file

The ‘Data Analysis’ tab has a viewer which allows data from .bin and .csv files to be previewed. There is an option to look more closely at sections of the data. The ‘Epoch Converter’ tab can be used to turn .bin and large .csv files into a smaller compressed version. It does this by creating epochs of 1, 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 seconds – the means for each parameter and the Sum Vector Magnitude are calculated for each epoch.

The default data format is a compressed .bin that can be interpreted, with a suitable script, by most mathematical analysis software packages.

A .csv format file is readable by Excel but can be unwieldy if there is a large amount of data. The Data Converter and Data Analysis tabs (selected from the left-hand menu) can convert .bin files to .csv files or to compressed .csv files that can be handled more easily. This means that .bin files can be saved and then converted to another format at a later date if required.

Please note: the macro files on our sister open access site, open.geneactiv.org, will only work with 60 second epoch .csv data files.

Activinsights will be talking at the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) on Thursday March 7, 11am-12pm in the Fairchild room to discuss the topic: Behavioral Events: Research, Implementations & the Individual. This talk will be of significance to anyone who… more